Mon Oct 06 06:57:00 UTC 2008
South Africa’s Boerewors Champion for 2008 was announced at an exhilarating grand finale at Sun City’s Valley of Waves on Saturday, 4 October. After 6 months of mincing, spicing, tasting and more tasting during which more than 1100 initial entries for the 14th Shoprite Checkers Championship Boerewors Competition were whittled down to 10 exceptional finalists, the big moment had finally arrived to select the new Boerewors king.
An ecstatic Dewald Rabie from Kroonstad walked away with the Boerewors crown as well as the magnificent prize of a brand-new Toyota Hilux 2.7 Double Cab Raised Body Raider.
The runner-up and second runner-up also did not leave empty handed. Second place was awarded to Nic Jordaan from Bethal who won a R10000 Holiday voucher from All Gold, R5000 Coca Cola cash prize and R1500 worth of Simba vouchers. Johnny Erasmus from Tzaneen, took third place and received a R5000 Holiday voucher from All Gold, R3000 Coca Cola cash prize and R1000 worth of Simba vouchers.
An independent judging panel comprising of top food experts Martin Kobald, Carmen Niehaus, Jenny Morris, Francois Ferreira, Peter Veldsman, and Owen Jullies had the daunting task of selecting this year’s number one boerewors. They all agreed that singling out one winner was an extremely challenging task this year due to the unique and outstanding qualities of each of the finalists’ entries. Entries were initially judged in raw form, followed by a braai-off during which contestants had to prepare their own secret recipe Boerewors to the best of their abilities.
Actress Brumilda van Rensburg and comedian/TV show presenter Soli Philander were the compéres for the day and entertained the crowd on the beach. Joining them on the sizzling Championship Boerewors stage were 7de Laan characters San-Mari (Amalia Uys), Emma (Bertha le Roux), Vanessa (Ingrid Paulus), Felicity (Melanie du Bois), Aggie (Mimi Mahlasela), Alyce (Vuyelwe Booi), Kabelo (Sekoati Tsubane), Lukas (Hendrik Cronjé), Errol (Christo Davids), Xander (Theodore Jantjies), Vince (Jacques Blignaut), Hilda (Annelisa Weiland), Maria (Themsie Times), Diederik (Hennie Jacobs), Marko (Francois Lensley), Paula (Diaan Lawrenson) and Mandla (Freedom Hadebe) who all on the strutted their stuff for the thrilled spectators.
The other 7 finalists who competed for the title and the grand prize were: Nigel Andrews from Eerste River - a Meat Market manager at Shoprite Mfuleni; Roberto Vanacore, a trainee Store Manager at Shoprite Eldorado Park; Attie Kühn, an Insurance Broker from Delmas; Henri Bester, a 17-year old scholar and entrepreneur from Jeffrey’s Bay; Elizabeth Lesley, a home maker from Kuruman; Yolanda Janse van Vuuren, a butchery-assistant from Brits; and Daneel van Dyk from Newcastle, a Regional Meat Market manager for Shoprite Checkers.
This truly South African event – the Championship Boerewors Competition - is annually presented by Shoprite Checkers to provide aspiring Boerewors makers with the opportunity to show their flair for producing the tastiest Boerewors in the country. In this way, the supermarket group ensures that the winning recipe is truly the country’s top Boerewors. Furthermore the competition assists the supermarket group in staying abreast with consumer needs and tastes and enables them to provide a quality meat product that reflects the value on offer in the Meat Market departments of all Shoprite and Checkers stores.
Consumers will not have to wait too long to taste the supermarket group’s new Championship Boerewors as this quality product will be available in the Meat Markets of all Shoprite, Checkers and Checkers Hyper stores countrywide as from Wednesday, 15 October. The 2008 Shoprite Checkers Championship Boerewors will receive the South African Chefs Association’s Seal of Approval, ensuring that South Africa’s best loved boerewors brand is the best of the very best!
Visit www.championshipboerewors.co.za for more information.